Page 52 of Bolo's Curveball
She frowned. “Not sure I like that. But I guess if they’re going to be involved in that kind of stuff they’ll need to make sure their own families are safe. What exactly does he mean by ‘they take care of the trash’?”
I shrugged. “He said there are bad people here and they clear them out.”
Her eyes narrowed and she pointed at me with her glass. “Yeah, see, but what does thatmean?Exactly?”
“I don’t know,” I groaned. “I’m usually more detail oriented-”
She snorted in amusement and took a long sip of her wine.
“Shut it,” I told her with a laugh. I was a bit of an over-analyzer when it came to details. It was why I was so good at my job. It was also why I’d been the official family trip organizer since I was fifteen. We’d decide as a group where we wanted to go, Mom and Dad would give me a budget, and I would plan the entire itinerary. Then they would book everything I suggested, as long as it stayed within the budget parameters. Spoiler alert, Ialwaysstayed within the budget.
“It was just…overwhelming…I guess?” I shrugged. “All the questions came hours later. I couldn’t think of many in the heat of the moment. Plus, some of the questions…I don’t know if I want answers to them.”
“It isn’t every day that a guy tells you he’s a vigilante,” she said with a nod of understanding.
“Exactly.” I waved a hand at her. “It took some time to process it.”
“So, what doyouthink he means?”
I made a face. “I don’t know.”
“Do you think they just run them out of town? Or…”
“‘Or’ is kind of what I’m worried about,” I admitted.
She bit her lip as she thought about that. “What are you going to do about it, now that you know?”
“Now that I sort of know, but not really?” I asked with a half laugh.
She grinned and nodded.
“That’s where you come in,” I told her.
The smile slipped off her face. “Crap. Somehow if this goes sideways I’m going to get blamed for it, huh?”
“Yeah, probably.”
We both laughed. If tradition was accurate then we’d both end up in trouble with our parents. Didn’t matter that we were grown adults. We’d always be their kids and therefore subject to lectures.
Yay.
CHAPTER 17
Devyn
We didn’t talk about my dilemma at all as we went back downstairs and drove to the restaurant to pick up our order. We chatted about easy, light things during the drive, but once we were back home, in the safety of my apartment, the switch flipped.
“This is a tricky situation.”
I glanced up from the bowl I’d dumped my Chinese food into. I didn’t like to eat out of the take out containers. At least eating off my own dishes made it seem more homey. “I know.”
“Having Bolo there for you and the baby is going to make a huge difference.”
I nodded and twirled some lo mein onto my fork. “Yeah.”
“And if you officially end up together,” she gave me a meaningful look because before I’d told her all this, being with Bolo was what she was rooting for, “then you’ll end up withnot only a baby, but a boyfriend who could then lead into a husband.”
I took a bite of the pork with more noodles. “I know.” And I was working on that. I really was. Turned out, if you gave a man a chance, he could surprise you with how sweet, thoughtful, and utterly right he could be for you. Who knew? “But then he springs this on me,” I reminded her.
